Systems and methods for determining device location using wireless data and other geographical location data

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for determining device location of a user device within a venue using a wireless positioning system is provided. The method includes identifying a plurality of signal sample sets, wherein each signal sample set includes a sample location within the venue and one or more wireless signal strengths of associated wireless access points positioned at the venue, wherein the sample location is determined based on location data associated with a corresponding payment card transaction within the venue. The method also includes receiving a subject wireless signal strength sample of the wireless access points captured by the user device at an unidentified location within the venue. The method further includes determining a subject location of the user device based on the plurality of signal sample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strength samples, and providing the subject location of the user device within the venue.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to determining a wireless devicelocation and, more specifically, to systems and methods for determininga location of a user and their mobile computing device based on wirelesssignal strength data within, for example, indoor venues, and othergeographical location data.

Geolocation data corresponding to various aspects of a person'sactivities is readily available. For example, many users have a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) associated with their activities in one way oranother. Such GPS devices are installed in many automobiles today,either as stand-alone transportable units, or as integrated unitspositioned in the dashboard of the automobile as purchased.Additionally, many watches and smart phones are now available withembedded GPS receivers and the availability to access a mappingapplication for providing real-time global positioning and trackingcapability.

While it is straightforward to determine the path of a user through theuse of GPS, a temporal history of one's whereabouts can also be gleanedfrom many other sources. Even without a GPS receiver, the location of acell phone on one's person can be roughly estimated from the regularlytimed pings received from the device at a nearest receiver tower. Moredetailed location data is available when a user activates the cell phoneto place a call. Similarly, information about the geolocation historyand habits of users may be recorded from various internet and smartphone applications, such as Facebook®, Twitter®, Foursquare®, and othersocial media applications, including those through which usersvoluntarily and routinely “checkin” or otherwise publish information oftheir physical locations at any particular time.

In some venues, however, geolocation data may not be readily available,or may not be accurate enough to sufficiently determine the user'slocation. For example, GPS traditionally performs poorly in many indoorvenues based on interference caused by building structures. In somevenues, GPS may only be able to determine a location estimation withinan area of approximately 15-25 meters. In other venues, GPS may not beaccessible at all. As such, GPS may not be able to provide localposition determination within a particular venue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for determining devicelocation of a user device within a venue is provided. The method isimplemented using a wireless positioning system including a processorand a memory. The method includes identifying a plurality of signalsample sets. Each signal sample set includes a sample location withinthe venue and one or more wireless signal strengths of associatedwireless access points positioned at the venue, and the sample locationis determined based at least in part on location data associated with acorresponding payment card transaction within the venue. The method alsoincludes receiving one or more subject wireless signal strength samplesof the wireless access points captured by the user device at anunidentified location within the venue. The method further includesdetermining, by the processor, a subject location of the user devicewithin the venue based at least in part on the plurality of signalsample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strengthsamples. The method also includes providing the subject location of theuser device within the venue.

In another aspect, a wireless positioning system for determining devicelocation of a user device within a venue is provided. The wirelesspositioning system includes a processor communicatively coupled to amemory. The wireless positioning system is programmed to identify aplurality of signal sample sets. Each signal sample set includes asample location within the venue and one or more wireless signalstrengths of associated wireless access points positioned at the venue,and the sample location is determined based at least in part on locationdata associated with a corresponding payment card transaction within thevenue. The wireless positioning system is also programmed to receive oneor more subject wireless signal strength samples of the wireless accesspoints captured by the user device at an unidentified location withinthe venue. The wireless positioning system is further programmed todetermine a subject location of the user device within the venue basedat least in part on the plurality of signal sample sets and the one ormore subject wireless signal strength samples. The wireless positioningsystem is also programmed to provide the subject location of the userdevice within the venue.

In yet another aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereonis provided. Wherein when executed by at least one processor, thecomputer-executable instructions cause the processor to identify aplurality of signal sample sets. Each signal sample set includes asample location within a venue and one or more wireless signal strengthsof associated wireless access points positioned at the venue, and thesample location is determined based at least in part on location dataassociated with a corresponding payment card transaction within thevenue. The computer-executable instructions further cause the processorto receive one or more subject wireless signal strength samples of thewireless access points captured by a user device at an unidentifiedlocation within the venue. The computer-executable instructions furthercause the processor to determine a subject location of the user devicewithin the venue based at least in part on the plurality of signalsample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strengthsamples. The computer-executable instructions also cause the processorto provide the subject location of the user device within the venue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-8 show example embodiments of the methods and systems describedherein.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example device locationmapping system that includes a Wireless Positioning System (WPS) forproviding device location within a public venue (e.g., an indoor settingsuch as a shopping mall or an airport).

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a device location mappingsystem that includes a multi-party transaction card industry system forauthorizing payment card transactions, and a wireless positioning system(WPS) as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example configuration of a user system operated bya user, such as the cardholder shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and/or the“subject user” shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example configuration of a server system such asthose shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an example venue in which the Wireless Positioning System(WPS) may provide position determination of a subject user within thevenue.

FIG. 6 is an example map of the venue shown in FIG. 5 which may be usedby the WPS to provide position determination of a subject user withinthe venue.

FIG. 7 is an example method for providing position determination for auser such as the subject user shown in FIG. 5 location data and wirelessdata.

FIG. 8 shows an example configuration of a database within a computingdevice, along with other related computing components, that may be usedto provide position determination of a user within a venue based atleast in part on wireless signal data and location data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Systems and methods are described herein for providing locationdetermination of users within, for example, indoor venues such asairports or shopping malls. In the example embodiment, the locationusers of wireless devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, wearables, andother mobile computing devices) within an indoor venue or building isdetermined based on wireless data and based on other geolocation data(alternately referred to herein as “geographic location data”) such aselectronic device location data, including location data associated witha point-of-sale (POS) device in the indoor venue. In some cases, usersof wireless devices are also cardholders of payment cards. In theexample embodiment, the users of such wireless devices are alsocardholders of payment cards (“sample cardholders”). For example, aprimary account number (PAN) of the cardholder may be paired with thecardholder's smartphone (e.g., via a unique device ID). This pairing ofa wireless device ID to a PAN may be achieved by, for example, acardholder registering their wireless device ID to the PAN assigned tothe cardholder, or by a mapping system that is configured to mapcellular “ping data” with transaction data for multiple transactions ofa device user.

A Wireless Positioning System (WPS) described herein collects “wirelesssample data” associated with a sample cardholder's time spent in theindoor venue. For example, while the sample cardholder shops at a venuesuch as a shopping mall, the WPS may collect wireless sample data fromthe sample cardholder's wireless device, from a plurality of wirelessaccess points (e.g., wireless routers) located in the indoor venue,and/or from a third party associated with the wireless access points(e.g., a wireless internet provider). This wireless sample data includesseveral wireless signal samples (“signal sample sets”) collected atvarious points in time (e.g., at a “sample time”). Each sample includessignal strengths at the wireless device of one or more nearby wirelessaccess points.

After the cardholder conducts a payment card transaction at a particularmerchant's store within the venue (e.g., at the merchant's POS device),the WPS identifies the time of this payment card transaction andcorrelates particular wireless sample data taken at or near the time ofthe transaction. This sample, which includes at least the wirelesssample data and the location of the cardholder (and, therefore, thecardholder's device) at the time of the transaction, and others like it(“historical wireless samples” or “historical samples,” e.g., collectedfrom this and other similar cardholders) are used by the WPS toapproximate the location of other “subject users” within the venue. Inother words, these historical samples become benchmark samples that maybe used by the WPS for comparison of future wireless signal sets(“subject wireless samples” or “subject samples”) to historical samples,for the purpose of locating the subject users of those subject wirelessdevices.

For example, the WPS collects a subject sample from a subject user'sdevice (e.g., while the subject user is in the indoor venue), or fromother sources as described more fully herein, and compares the subjectsample to the historical samples to determine that the subject user iscurrently in or near a particular merchant's shop. As such, thehistorical samples collected from cardholders when performingtransactions at known locations (e.g., the locations of the merchant POSdevices are typically known locations) may be used to infer the locationof a subject user based on the current signal strengths of the wirelessaccess points as compared to the known historical samples.

More specifically, sample cardholders may pre-configure or otherwiseassociate their mobile device with their payment card, such as throughregistering a unique device ID or cellphone number with their issuingbank, such that the device ID is associated with the cardholder's PAN(for example, in a lookup table). Sample cardholders often use paymentcards to pay for goods and services at merchant locations within aparticular venue, and often have their mobile device with them at thetime of the transaction. In some cases, the WPS may be configured toassociate a device ID with a cardholder's PAN. The WPS may access orreceive transaction data associated with a cardholder for priortransactions made by the cardholder. This “prior transaction data”includes, among other data, timestamps and locations of the priortransactions. The WPS may further access or receive cellular “pingdata,” which is data from cellular networks that defines a location of acellular device based on which cellular tower the cellular device lastused to connect to the cellular network (i.e., the cell tower last“pinged”). Accordingly, the WPS compares the locations of the priortransactions of the cardholder (from the transaction data) withlocations of wireless devices (from the cellular ping data). The WPS isable to associate a cardholder (and the cardholder's associated PAN)with the wireless device by determining which wireless device waspresent at the same locations as a plurality of cardholder-initiatedtransactions.

During a payment card transaction initiated by a sample cardholder,transaction data is received and processed over a payment processingnetwork. The transaction data includes data identifying the samplecardholder (e.g., via a payment card number of the payment card used toconduct the transaction, or a PAN) and the merchant (e.g., via amerchant identifier provided by the POS terminal). Throughidentification of the sample cardholder, the mobile device of thecardholder is also identified, namely in the case where the samplecardholder has registered the mobile device with the card number and/orin the case where the WPS has automatically linked the mobile device tothe PAN based on prior transaction data and cellular ping data. The WPSis also configured to identify a “floor plan” of a venue, as well as alocation of the POS terminal within that floor plan (e.g., throughidentification of the location of the merchant, based on their POSterminal information). As such, when the sample cardholder performs thepayment card transaction, the sample cardholder's location is known tobe at approximately the known location of the POS device associated withthe transaction.

Further, at the time of the payment card transaction, the WPS alsoreceives or identifies wireless sample data captured by the mobiledevice carried by the sample cardholder and/or by the wireless accesspoints nearby the sample cardholder. Wireless access points, alsoreferred to herein as “beacons,” are devices that enable a user deviceto wirelessly connect to the Internet or another computer network. This“signal strength sample data” includes network identifiers for the oneor more wireless access points identified (or “visible”) to the mobiledevice at the time of the payment card transaction (e.g., while theconsumer is at the POS terminal within the merchant's place ofbusiness), as well as an associated signal strength at the mobile devicefor each network identifier (e.g., number of “bars” of signal strength).The WPS correlates, or “signal-maps”, the sample data of the mobiledevice with the payment card transaction data (e.g., the location of theparticular POS device used) and stores the signal strength sample data,along with other device data and/or cardholder data, as “historicalsamples”.

The WPS is configured to use these historical samples for positiondetermination of a “subject user” within the venue based on signalstrengths of wireless devices the same or different wireless accesspoints as received at the subject user's mobile device. Once a number ofhistorical samples have been collected and “signal-mapped” within thevenue, the WPS may infer the location of other mobile devices within thevenue based at least in part on the historical sample data, as well as a“subject sample” of wireless signals captured by the mobile device ofthe subject user. More specifically, the WPS receives a subject signalstrength sample from the subject user's mobile device (and/or from thewireless access points associated with the wireless signals) andcompares these current “subject” samples to the historical sample data.If, for example, the subject signal strength sample matches signalstrengths of a particular historical sample, the WPS may provide thelocation associated with that historical sample as the position of thesubject shopper within the venue. For example, the WPS may provide thecurrent location (“subject location”) of the subject user to a computerapplication such as a “maps” application (“app”) used by the subjectshopper to navigate about the venue, and the maps app may superimposethe current location on a map of the venue, or use the current locationas a starting point when projecting a travel path to a destination pointwithin the venue.

At least one of the technical problems addressed by this systemincludes: (i) poor performance of satellite-based global positioningsystems (GPS) in certain venues, such as some indoor venues; (ii)difficulties associated with mapping of indoor venues, such aspre-determining physical locations of wireless access points (e.g.,wireless beacons) present within the venues; and (iii) inability toprovide accurate position determination of users within those venues.

A technical effect of the systems and processes described herein includeat least one of: (i) identifying a plurality of signal sample sets,wherein each signal sample set includes a sample location within thevenue and one or more wireless signal strengths of associated wirelessaccess points positioned at the venue, wherein the sample location isdetermined based at least in part on location data associated with acorresponding payment card transaction within the venue; (ii) receivingone or more subject wireless signal strength samples of the wirelessaccess points captured by a user device at an unidentified locationwithin the venue; (iii) determining, by the processor, a subjectlocation of the user device within the venue based at least in part onthe plurality of signal sample sets and the one or more subject wirelesssignal strength samples; and (iv) providing the subject location of theuser device within the venue.

The technical effect achieved by this system is at least one of: (i)aggregating historical signal strength samples collected at knownlocations and from wireless access points; (ii) correlating samplecollection in conjunction with the timing of payment card transactionsat a point-of-sale device having a known location; (ii) determining userposition based on historical signal strength samples and a currentsignal strength sample; (iii) mapping the user position within a venuemap. The wireless positioning system described herein leverages wirelessaccess points, such as IEEE 802.11 wireless routers, and collectshistorical sample data in conjunction with payment card transactions,thereby providing a set of samples to compare against a current orsubject sample to determine the location of a user. This WPS overcomesproblems associated with GPS, as the WPS leverages local signals thatare available in indoor locations.

As used herein, a processor may include any programmable systemincluding systems using micro-controllers, reduced instruction setcircuits (RISC), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logiccircuits, and any other circuit or processor capable of executing thefunctions described herein. The above examples are example only, and arethus not intended to limit in any way the definition and/or meaning ofthe term “processor.”

As used herein, the terms “software” and “firmware” are interchangeable,and include any computer program stored in memory for execution by aprocessor, including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROMmemory, and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types areexample only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memory usablefor storage of a computer program.

In one embodiment, a computer program is provided, and the program isembodied on a computer readable medium. In an example embodiment, thesystem is executed on a single computer system, without requiring aconnection to a sever computer. In a further embodiment, the system isbeing run in a Windows® environment (Windows is a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.). In yet another embodiment,the system is run on a mainframe environment and a UNIX® serverenvironment (UNIX is a registered trademark of X/Open Company Limitedlocated in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom). The application isflexible and designed to run in various different environments withoutcompromising any major functionality. In some embodiments, the systemincludes multiple components distributed among a plurality of computingdevices. One or more components may be in the form ofcomputer-executable instructions embodied in a computer-readable medium.The systems and processes are not limited to the specific embodimentsdescribed herein. In addition, components of each system and eachprocess can be practiced independent and separate from other componentsand processes described herein. Each component and process can also beused in combination with other assembly packages and processes.

As used herein, the terms “transaction card,” “financial transactioncard,” and “payment card” refer to any suitable transaction card, suchas a credit card, a debit card, a prepaid card, a charge card, amembership card, a promotional card, a frequent flyer card, anidentification card, a prepaid card, a gift card, and/or any otherdevice that may hold payment account information, such as mobile phones,Smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), key fobs, and/orcomputers. Each type of transactions card can be used as a method ofpayment for performing a transaction. As used herein, the term “paymentaccount” is used generally to refer to the underlying account with thetransaction card. In addition, cardholder card account behavior caninclude but is not limited to purchases, management activities (e.g.,balance checking), bill payments, achievement of targets (meetingaccount balance goals, paying bills on time), and/or productregistrations (e.g., mobile application downloads).

The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of thedisclosure by way of example and not by way of limitation. It iscontemplated that the disclosure has general application to processingfinancial transaction data by a third party in industrial, commercial,and residential applications.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralelements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly recited.Furthermore, references to “example embodiment” or “one embodiment” ofthe present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excludingthe existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate therecited features.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example device locationmapping system 100 including a Wireless Positioning System (WPS) 110 forproviding device location within a public venue 111 (e.g., an indoorsetting such as a shopping mall or an airport). Mapping system 100includes a plurality of computer devices connected in communication inaccordance with the present disclosure. In the example embodiment,mapping system 100 may be used to determine a location of a mobilecomputing device 104 within a public venue 111 that includes one or morewireless access points 117 and one or more POS terminals 118.

More specifically, in the example embodiment, mapping system 100includes WPS 110, a payment processor 112 in communication with POSterminal 118 at a merchant location, and/or other client systems 114associated with merchants, merchant banks, payment networks, issuerbanks, and/or cardholders. Mapping system 100 further includes aplurality of wireless access points 117, within public venue 111. Forexample, venue 111 may include one or more wireless access points orbroadcast devices 117 such as an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN (WLAN) accesspoint (e.g., wireless router). As explained below in detail, WPS 110includes at least one processor in communication with a memory device,and is configured to determine a location of a user 102 (such as acardholder have a payment card associated with payment processor 112)within venue 111. WPS 110 makes such a location determination based onwireless sample data collected from a user device associated with user102, such as mobile computing device 104, and based on known locationdata collected from POS terminal 118 when user 102 initiates a paymenttransaction at POS terminal 118 using a payment card that is processedby a payment network including payment processor 112. As used herein, a“user” may be either a “cardholder” (having a payment card associatedwith payment processor 112) or a non-cardholder. The transaction processis described below with respect to FIG. 2. In the example embodiment,the wireless device location may be determined based on past paymentcard transaction data, received at WPS 110 from payment processor 112,and wireless sample data, received at WPS 110 from at least one ofmobile computing devices 104, 105, wireless access points 117, and awireless access point hub (e.g., wireless access point hub 640, shown inFIG. 5) associated with wireless access points 117.

In the example embodiment, payment processor 112 is also incommunication with a plurality of client sub-systems, also referred toas client systems 114. In one embodiment, client systems 114 arecomputers including a web browser, such that payment processor 112 isaccessible to client systems 114 using the Internet. Client systems 114are interconnected to the Internet through many interfaces including anetwork 115, such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network(WAN), dial-in-connections, cable modems, special high-speed IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN) lines, and RDT networks. Client systems114 could be any device capable of interconnecting to the Internetincluding a web-based phone, PDA, or other web-based connectableequipment.

In the example embodiment, mapping system 100 also includes POSterminals 118, which may be connected to client systems 114, to paymentprocessor 112, and/or to WPS 110. POS terminals 118 may beinterconnected to the Internet (or any other network that allows the POSterminals 118 to communicate as described herein) through manyinterfaces including a network, such as a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), dial-in-connections, cable modems, wireless LAN(e.g., IEEE 802.11 wireless networks), and special high-speed ISDNlines. POS terminals 118 could be any device capable of interconnectingto the Internet and including an input device capable of readinginformation from a cardholder's financial transaction card. In someembodiments, POS terminal 118 may be a cardholder's personal computer,such as when conducting an online purchase through the Internet. As usedherein, the terms POS device, POS terminal, and point of interactiondevice are used broadly, generally, and interchangeably to refer to anydevice on which a cardholder interacts with a merchant to complete apayment card transaction.

A database server 116 is connected to database 120, which containsinformation on a variety of matters, as described below in greaterdetail. In one embodiment, centralized database 120 is stored on paymentprocessor 112 and can be accessed by potential users at one of clientsystems 114 and/or WPS 110. In an alternative embodiment, database 120is stored remotely from payment processor 112 and may benon-centralized.

Database 120 may include a single database having separated sections orpartitions or may include multiple databases, each being separate fromeach other. Database 120 may store transaction data generated as part ofsales activities conducted over the processing network including datarelating to merchants, account holders or customers, issuers, acquirers,wireless access point identifiers and signal strength information,and/or purchases made. Database 120 may also store account dataincluding at least one of a cardholder name, a cardholder address, anaccount number, and other account identifiers. Database 120 may alsostore merchant data including a merchant identifier that identifies eachmerchant registered to use the network, and instructions for settlingtransactions including merchant bank account information. Database 120may also store purchase data associated with items being purchased by acardholder (e.g., cardholder 102) from a merchant, and authorizationrequest data. Database 120 may also store loyalty rewards information.

In the example embodiment, WPS 110 receives transaction data for acardholder 102 that has conducted a transaction at POS device 118 inpublic venue 111. WPS 110 also receives wireless sample data for amobile computing device 104 associated with cardholder 102. For example,mobile computing device 104 is associated with cardholder 102 bymatching a PAN of cardholder's 102 account with a device ID for mobilecomputing device 104.

The wireless sample data received by WPS 110 is captured by mobilecomputing device 104 at or near the time that cardholder 102 isconducting the payment card transaction at POS terminal 118. Wirelesssample data includes signal strength sample data including a wirelessnetwork identifier of wireless access points 117 and associated signalstrengths of wireless access points 117 at mobile computing device 104based on a “device position” of mobile computing device 104 ofcardholder 102 within public venue 111 (e.g., based on where mobilecomputing device 104 is located at that “sample time” within publicvenue 111). The wireless sample data may be received directly frommobile computing device 104. Mobile computing device 104 measures thesignal strength of the broadcasts from the various wireless accesspoints 117 (e.g., in a number of “bars” of signal strength). Mobilecomputing device 104 may record and transmit the record of these varioussignal strength (“signal strength sample data”) at various times, suchas during initiation of a transaction associated with an account matchedwith the device ID of mobile computing device 104, or when queried byWPS 110 to provide such signal strength sample data.

Additionally or alternatively, WPS 110 may receive wireless sample data,including signal strength sample data, from one or more access points117 or a hub associated with access points 117 (e.g., an internetservice provider). When not connected to a wireless network, with amobile computing device's wireless transceiver turned on, the mobilecomputing device 104 sends out interrogation signals attempting tolocate and determine available networks. These wireless interrogationsoften include a unique identifier, referred to herein as a “device ID.”A strength of these interrogation signals varies with a distance awayfrom the mobile computing device 104 and may be used to determine arelative distance between the mobile computing device 104 and thewireless access point 117. The device ID is used to keep track of therelative signal strength of each of a plurality of mobile computingdevices 104 at the same time. The wireless sample data can also includetime information such that the signal strength sample data can be storedfor each of a plurality of devices 104 at different times during aselected period of time.

The wireless sample data represents a “location profile” of a particularlocation or position within public venue 111 (e.g., the location of POSdevice 118). WPS 110 stores such historical samples in database 120.During later operations, WPS 110 collects subject signal strength sampledata (e.g., “signal sample sets”) associated with a mobile computingdevice 105 of a subject user 103 within public venue 111. WPS 110compares the subject signal strength sample data captured at mobilecomputing device 105 to the historical samples in database 120 anddetermines a location or position of mobile computing device 105 ofsubject user 103 within public venue 111. More specifically, in someembodiments, WPS 110 finds the location profile that most closelymatches the subject signal strength sample and provides that location asthe location of the subject user 103. In some embodiments, WPS 110 usesstatistical analysis of the historical samples and the subject sample,to determine the most probable location of subject user 103 within venue111.

One potential source of geolocation data is payment card usage. Bothusers and issuers of payment cards are particularly concerned withpreventing unauthorized use of payment cards as early as possible. If apayment card user (e.g., cardholder 102 and/or subject user 103) optsinto a payment card security system (e.g., providing his or her cellphone number), a direct correlation can be made between everypoint-of-sale purchase of the cardholder and the contemporaneouslocation of the cardholder's cell phone. In co-owned, co-pending patentapplication Ser. No. 13/457,701, filed Apr. 27, 2012, entitled “Methodfor Providing Payment Card Security using Registrationless TelecomGeolocation Capture,” by Howe et al., a method for enabling securepayment card usage without requiring a user to enroll or register isprovided. A geo-temporal history of a payment card user's point-of-salepurchases is tracked to compare geolocation information for cell phonesoperated by a mobile network provider to contemporaneous cell phonelocation in order to match cell phone owners to their payment cardaccounts. A unique identification number can be assigned by the networkprovider in lieu of providing the matching cell phone numbers to thepayment card issuer in order to maintain privacy. The identity of apayment card user can then be securely verified by the merchant infuture purchases by querying the mobile network operator for thelocation of the payment card user's cell phone number (corresponding tothe Identification Number) at the time of the purchase.

As an additional feature of the systems and methods described herein, insome embodiments, WPS 110 may further be configured to associate mobilecomputing device 104 with cardholder 102 by generating a “geotemporalfingerprint” for mobile computing device 104. A geotemporal fingerprintcan be generated based on a compilation of geolocation information andtimestamps that track a mobile computing device's location andactivities of a user (e.g., cardholder 102) associated with the mobilecomputing device, as described in co-owned application Ser. No.13/671,791, entitled “Methods For Geotemporal Fingerprinting,” by Howe(which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Ageotemporal fingerprint can be generated for mobile computing devicesfrom “ping” data. A cell phone (or other cellular-enabled mobilecomputing device) “pings” a nearest cell tower at regular intervals, forexample, about every five minutes. A telecommunications service providermay store this information for a period of time, in some cases, up toabout forty-eight (48) hours. The ping data includes a device IDassociated with the mobile computing device from which the pingoriginates, and a geolocation, for example, a cell phone tower ID, whichalso corresponds to a broadcast area. The device ID is preferablyassociated with each mobile computing device and associated with thegeotemporal fingerprint for distinguishing the mobile computing devicefrom others in a mobile device database (e.g., a cell phone database).Once a primary (e.g., home) and a secondary (e.g., work place or school)region associated with each device ID are identified, other identifyingcriteria can be defined and ascertained from the ping data and recordedto generate a geotemporal fingerprint for each mobile computing device.

Alternatively, a geotemporal fingerprint for a cardholder or a socialmedia user can be generated from other databases related to other typesof consumer activity, such as one of various types of on-line socialnetworking databases or payment card usage. In these embodiments, ageotemporal fingerprint is similarly formed from the geotemporal data,which can include beacon or cell tower IDs or addresses, IP addresses(for example, from a merchant location when a payment card is used, orfrom a computer/smart phone utilized by a consumer accessing socialnetworking databases), or GPS coordinates, for example. This data willalso contain a device/account/profile ID, a geolocation, and a date andtime of day, and may also include a period of time associated with theuse of the mobile computing device at the geolocation (for example, atime span over which the associated user is logged on to an activity andactive).

Geotemporal fingerprints for mobile computing devices can be compared togeotemporal fingerprints generated from payment card usage to match acardholder account with a mobile computing device using, for example,transaction data associated with the cardholder's payment card. Recordsof on-line purchases initiated using the payment card can also becollected with geotemporal (including IP address) data. Accordingly, WPS110 may associate or match mobile computing device 104 to cardholder 102(or cardholders 102's account and associated PAN) with cardholder 102needing to pre-register mobile computing device 104.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a device location mappingsystem 150 that includes a multi-party transaction card industry system152 for authorizing payment card transactions, and wireless positioningsystem (WPS) 110. Embodiments described herein may relate to atransaction card system, such as a credit card payment system using theMasterCard® interchange network. The MasterCard® interchange network isa set of proprietary communications standards promulgated by MasterCardInternational Incorporated® for the exchange of financial transactiondata and the settlement of funds between financial institutions that aremembers of MasterCard International Incorporated®. (MasterCard is aregistered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated located inPurchase, N.Y.).

In a transaction card system 152, a financial institution called the“issuer” issues a transaction card, such as a credit card, to a consumeror cardholder 102, who uses the transaction card to tender payment for apurchase from a merchant 154. To accept payment with the transactioncard, merchant 154 must normally establish an account with a financialinstitution that is part of the financial payment system. This financialinstitution is usually called the “merchant bank,” the “acquiring bank,”or the “acquirer.” When cardholder 102 tenders payment for a purchasewith a transaction card, merchant 154 requests authorization from amerchant bank 156 for the amount of the purchase. The request may beperformed over the telephone, but is usually performed through the useof a point-of-sale terminal, which reads cardholder's 102 accountinformation from a magnetic stripe, a chip, or embossed characters onthe transaction card and communicates electronically with thetransaction processing computers of merchant bank 156. Alternatively,merchant bank 156 may authorize a third party to perform transactionprocessing on its behalf. In this case, the point-of-sale terminal 118will be configured to communicate with the third party. Such a thirdparty is usually called a “merchant processor,” an “acquiringprocessor,” or a “third party processor.”

Using an interchange network 112 (which is similar to or includespayment processor 112, shown in FIG. 1), computers of merchant bank 156or payment processor 112 will communicate with computers of an issuerbank 158 to determine whether cardholder's 102 account 160 is in goodstanding and whether the purchase is covered by cardholder's 102available credit line. Based on these determinations, the request forauthorization will be declined or accepted. If the request is accepted,an authorization code is issued to merchant 154.

When a request for authorization is accepted, the available credit lineof cardholder's 102 account 160 is decreased. Normally, a charge for apayment card transaction is not posted immediately to cardholder's 102account 160 because bankcard associations, such as MasterCardInternational Incorporated®, have promulgated rules that do not allowmerchant 154 to charge, or “capture,” a transaction until goods areshipped or services are delivered. However, with respect to at leastsome debit card transactions, a charge may be posted at the time of thetransaction. When merchant 154 ships or delivers the goods or services,merchant 154 captures the transaction by, for example, appropriate dataentry procedures on the point-of-sale terminal 118. This may includebundling of approved transactions daily for standard retail purchases.If cardholder 102 cancels a transaction before it is captured, a “void”is generated. If cardholder 102 returns goods after the transaction hasbeen captured, a “credit” is generated. Interchange network 112 and/orissuer bank 158 stores the transaction card information, such as a typeof merchant, amount of purchase, date of purchase, in a database 120(shown in FIG. 1). Further, in some embodiments, interchange network 112and/or issuer bank 158 stores in database 120 information associatedwith a loyalty program such as, for example, an amount of loyalty pointsassociated with the cardholder and/or the transaction.

After a purchase has been made, a clearing process occurs to transferadditional transaction data related to the purchase among the parties tothe transaction, such as merchant bank 156, interchange network 112, andissuer bank 158. More specifically, during and/or after the clearingprocess, additional data, such as a time of purchase, a merchant name, atype of merchant, purchase information, cardholder account information,a type of transaction, savings information, itinerary information,information regarding the purchased item and/or service, and/or othersuitable information, is associated with a transaction and transmittedbetween parties to the transaction as transaction data, and may bestored by any of the parties to the transaction.

After a transaction is authorized and cleared, the transaction issettled among merchant 154, merchant bank 156, and issuer bank 158.Settlement refers to the transfer of financial data or funds amongmerchant's 154 account, merchant bank 156, and issuer bank 158 relatedto the transaction. Usually, transactions are captured and accumulatedinto a “batch,” which is settled as a group. More specifically, atransaction is typically settled between issuer bank 158 and interchangenetwork 112, and then between interchange network 112 and merchant bank156, and then between merchant bank 156 and merchant 154.

In the example embodiment, cardholder 102 shops at a public venue 111(as shown in FIG. 1) including one or more merchants 154 and one or morewireless access points 117 (also shown in FIG. 1), such as a shoppingmall. Cardholder 102 carries a mobile computing device 104 capable ofcommunicating with these wireless access points 117, such as asmartphone or tablet computer. At various times while shopping (e.g.,when cardholder 102 is at a known location such as a POS terminal 118 ata location within merchant 154), WPS 110 collects wireless sample data(e.g., signal strength sample data) of the various access pointscurrently within range of mobile computing device 104. WPS 110 isconfigured to receive transaction data from payment processor 112,transaction data including merchant 154 and/or POS terminal 118identifiers, which enables WPS 110 to locate cardholder 102 within venue111 (i.e., located cardholder 102 at POS terminal 118). The transactiondata may also include a timestamp for the time the transaction wasinitiated, which enables WPS 110 to access wireless sample data for themobile computing device 104 at the same time indicated in the timestamp.WPS 110 later uses this wireless sample data to determine a location ofa mobile computing device 105 (as shown in FIG. 1) within the venue 111.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example configuration of a user system 202operated by a user 201, such as cardholder 102 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2)and/or subject user 103 (shown in FIG. 1). User system 202 may include,but is not limited to, client systems 114, POS terminal 118, and mobilecomputing devices 104, 105 (all shown in FIG. 1). In the exampleembodiment, user system 202 includes a processor 205 for executinginstructions. In some embodiments, executable instructions are stored ina memory area 210. Processor 205 may include one or more processingunits, for example, a multi-core configuration. Memory area 210 is anydevice allowing information such as executable instructions and/orwritten works to be stored and retrieved. Memory area 210 may includeone or more computer readable media.

User system 202 also includes at least one media output component 215for presenting information to user 201. Media output component 215 isany component capable of conveying information to user 201. In someembodiments, media output component 215 includes an output adapter suchas a video adapter and/or an audio adapter. An output adapter isoperatively coupled to processor 205 and operatively couplable to anoutput device such as a display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD),organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or “electronic ink”display, or an audio output device, a speaker or headphones.

In some embodiments, user system 202 includes an input device 220 forreceiving input from user 201. Input device 220 may include, forexample, a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, a stylus, a touchsensitive panel, a touch pad, a touch screen, a gyroscope, anaccelerometer, a position detector, or an audio input device. A singlecomponent such as a touch screen may function as both an output deviceof media output component 215 and input device 220. User system 202 mayalso include a communication interface 225, which is communicativelycouplable to a remote device such as payment processor 112 or WPS 110.Communication interface 225 may include, for example, a wired orwireless network adapter or a wireless data transceiver for use with amobile phone network, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), 3G,or other mobile data network or Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WIMAX), or an 802.11 wireless network (WLAN).

Stored in memory area 210 are, for example, computer readableinstructions for providing a user interface to user 201 via media outputcomponent 215 and, optionally, receiving and processing input from inputdevice 220. A user interface may include, among other possibilities, aweb browser and client application. Web browsers enable users, such asuser 201, to display and interact with media and other informationtypically embedded on a web page or a website from a server system suchas WPS 110 or payment processor 112. A client application allows user201 to interact with a server application from a server system.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example configuration of a server system 301 suchas payment processor 112 (shown in FIG. 1). Server system 301 mayalternatively include, but is not limited to, database server 116 and/orWPS 110 (also shown in FIG. 1).

Server system 301 includes a processor 305 for executing instructions.Instructions may be stored in a memory area 310, for example. Processor305 may include one or more processing units (e.g., in a multi-coreconfiguration) for executing instructions. The instructions may beexecuted within a variety of different operating systems on the serversystem 301, such as UNIX, LINUX, Microsoft Windows®, etc. It should alsobe appreciated that upon initiation of a computer-based method, variousinstructions may be executed during initialization. Some operations maybe required in order to perform one or more processes described herein,while other operations may be more general and/or specific to aparticular programming language (e.g., C, C#, C++, Java, or othersuitable programming languages, etc.).

Processor 305 is operatively coupled to a communication interface 315such that server system 301 is capable of communicating with a remotedevice such as a user system or another server system 301. For example,communication interface 315 may receive requests from client system 114via the Internet, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Processor 305 may also be operatively coupled to a storage device 134.Storage device 134 is any computer-operated hardware suitable forstoring and/or retrieving data. In some embodiments, storage device 134is integrated in server system 301. For example, server system 301 mayinclude one or more hard disk drives as storage device 134. In otherembodiments, storage device 134 is external to server system 301 and maybe accessed by a plurality of server systems 301. For example, storagedevice 134 may include multiple storage units such as hard disks orsolid state disks in a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID)configuration. Storage device 134 may include a storage area network(SAN) and/or a network attached storage (NAS) system.

In some embodiments, processor 305 is operatively coupled to storagedevice 134 via a storage interface 320. Storage interface 320 is anycomponent capable of providing processor 305 with access to storagedevice 134. Storage interface 320 may include, for example, an AdvancedTechnology Attachment (ATA) adapter, a Serial ATA (SATA) adapter, aSmall Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter, a RAID controller, a SANadapter, a network adapter, and/or any component providing processor 305with access to storage device 134.

Memory area 310 may include, but are not limited to, random accessmemory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), andnon-volatile RAM (NVRAM). The above memory types are exemplary only, andare thus not limiting as to the types of memory usable for storage of acomputer program.

FIG. 5 is an example venue 600 in which Wireless Positioning System(WPS) 110 may provide position determination of a subject user 103. Inthe example embodiment, venue 600 is a shopping mall in which severalmerchants 630 offer goods and services to cardholders 102. Venue 600 maysimilar to public venue 111, shown in FIG. 1. A clothing boutique 630 ahas a point-of-sale (POS) device 118 a, a coffee shop 630 b has a POSdevice 118 b, and a department store has two POS devices 118 c, 118 d.

Further, in the example embodiment, venue 600 also has several wirelessaccess points 610. More specifically, the shopping mall provides twopublic wireless access points 610 a, 610 c, such as IEEE 802.11 WLANrouters, and coffee shop 630 b provides a private wireless access point610 b secured for use by their customers. In addition, department store630 c provides wireless access points 610 d, 610 e, and 610 f, any ofwhich may be private or public. Each wireless access point 610 isidentifiable by a device or network identifier unique at least asbetween the other nearby wireless access points 610 (referred to hereinas “network identifier”). More specifically, in the example embodiment,each wireless access point 610 has a unique service set identifier(SSID) or “network name” configured for the access point. For example,the network identifier of wireless access point 610 a is “MallWiFi001”,the network identifier of wireless access point 610 b is“XYZWireless123”, and the network identifier of wireless access point610 c is “MallWiFi002”. In the example embodiment, these networkidentifiers are discoverable or “visible” to other 802.11-compliantclient devices, in some cases whether the wireless network is otherwise“secured” or not.

In the example embodiment, venue 600 illustrates several cardholders or“sample cardholders” 102. The term “sample cardholder”, as used herein,refers to a cardholder from whom wireless sample data (“signal samplesets”) are collected, as described herein. Each illustrated samplecardholder 102 carries with them a mobile computing device 104, such asa smartphone or a tablet. Each mobile computing device 104 is capable ofscanning and discovering the presence and network identifier of one ormore wireless access points 610, such as wireless access points 610 a,610 b, 610 c, 610 d, 610 e, and 610 f, within some physical range. Inaddition, each wireless access point 610 is configured to discoveringthe presence and device ID of one or more mobile computing devices 104.

Further, as is common with many “wireless-enabled” devices, eachcomputing device 104 also determines a “signal strength” of eachwireless access point 610 within its range (e.g., via a “signal strengthmeter”). For example, some vendors of smartphones may provide a signalstrength meter showing a tiered signal strength, ranging from a strengthindicator such as “very weak”, or based on a number of “bars”, where “0bars” indicates a very weak signal strength (e.g., barely visible,normally indicating a relatively extended distance between the computingdevice and the associated wireless access point), and up to a maximumstrength indicator such as “very strong”, or a number of bars such as “3bars” or “5 bars”, indicating a very strong signal (e.g., when there isa close proximity between the computing device and the associatedwireless access point).

In the example embodiment, it is presumed that each particular samplecardholder 102 is associated with both one or more payment cards and atleast one mobile computing device 104. In other words, when a paymentcard transaction is identified, an associated computing device 104 mayalso be identified, for example, based on the cardholder account numberor PAN used in the transaction. In some embodiments, as described above,a sample cardholder 102 may pre-register a mobile computing device 104to be associated with his/her PAN. In some embodiments, WPS 110 may beconfigured to associate a mobile computing device 104 with a cardholderPAN using prior transaction data and cellular ping data.

In the example venue 600, sample cardholder 102 a is depicted inclothing boutique 630 a, and near that merchant's POS device 118 a(e.g., performing a payment card transaction for goods or services). Inthe example embodiment, sample cardholder 102 a initiates a transactionat POS device 118 a. WPS 110 receives transaction data associated withthe transaction, the transaction data including at least location dataand account data. WPS 110 uses the location data, such a merchant 630 aidentifier or POS device 118 a identifier, to locate sample cardholder102 a within venue 600, in particular, at or nearby POS device 118 a.WPS 110 also uses the account data, such a PAN associated with theaccount of sample cardholder 102 a, to perform a lookup of the device IDassociated with mobile computing device 104 a of sample cardholder 102a, which enables WPS 110 to access a signal sample set (such as signalstrength sample data) for mobile computing device 104 a at the time ofthe transaction. At the time of sample cardholder's 102 a payment cardtransaction, mobile computing device 104 a of sample cardholder 102 aperforms a wireless signal scan to determine which wireless accesspoints 610 are currently visible at this location (e.g., while samplecardholder 102 a is at POS device 118 a), as well as associatedstrengths of each visible wireless access point 610. Presume, forexample, that the signal strength sample data for device 104 a at POSdevice 118 a at the time of the payment card transaction is:

TABLE 1 Signal Strength Sample Data at POS 118a MallWiFi XYZWirelessMallWiFi Store Store Store 001 123 002 001 002 003 Signal 5 4 — 2 1 4Strength @ 118aIn Table 1, a signal strength listed as “--” indicates a wireless accesspoint 610 that is not visible or not present in the collected sample. Inother words, at the time that device 104 a captured signal strength datafor this example, access point “MallWiFi002” 610 c was not visible bydevice 104 a at POS 118 a.

WPS 110 collects and stores wireless sample data, or signal sample sets,including the signal strength sample data shown in Table 1, along withperhaps other data such as a cardholder identifier and device data suchas a device manufacturer, device type, make, model, operating systemversion, and/or firmware version of computing device 104 a. WPS 110 mayaccess wireless sample data directly from mobile computing device 104 a.Additionally or alternatively, WPS 110 may access wireless sample datafrom multiple wireless access points 610 and/or from a hub 640, which isin communication with at least one (and, in some embodiments, all) ofwireless access points 610. More specifically, hub 640 may be associatedwith a particular wireless internet service provider, and may maintainonly some or all of wireless access points 610 in venue 600. Wirelessaccess point 610 a, (taking wireless access point 610 a as a particularexample, for clarity only) also collects signal strength data sample forthe signal produced at wireless access point 610 a relative to eachmobile computing device 104 in range of wireless access point 610 a. Hub640 collects all of the signal strength sample data from wireless accesspoints 610. Accordingly, WPS 110 may access wireless sample data fromwireless access points 610 and/or hub 640. WPS 110 may request onlywireless sample data associated with device IDs of mobile computingdevices 104, or may access all available wireless sample data andperform its own lookup of device IDs to retrieve associated wirelesssample data. WPS 110 may collect or otherwise access the wireless sampledata at the time the transaction is made (“real-time”) or at a laterperiod of time (e.g., collecting wireless sample data in “batches”).

The signal strengths listed in Table 1, and in subsequent examples, arein a “number of bars” ranging between 1 and 5 (e.g., 1 being visible butweak, 5 being the strongest), but other ranges, and other units ofsignal strength are possible. The signal strength sample data shown inTable 1 indicates that device 104 a, at the time of sampling (e.g., whenconducting the payment card transaction at POS terminal 118 a), showed amaximum strength reading for wireless access point “MallWiFi001” (e.g.,5 bars), a good strength reading for wireless access point“XYZWireless123” (e.g., 4 bars), no reading for wireless access point“MallWiFi002”, a poor strength reading for wireless access point“Store001” (e.g., 2 bars), a weak strength reading for wireless accesspoint “Store002” (e.g., 1 bar), and a good strength reading for wirelessaccess point “Store003.”

Similarly, in the example embodiment, cardholders 102 b, 102 c, and 102d are each at other locations within venue 600 (coffee shop 630 b anddepartment store 630 c), each performing a payment card transaction atan associated POS device 118 b, 118 c, and 118 d, respectively, and eachcarrying with them an associated mobile computing device 104 b, 104 c,and 104 d, respectively. Presume, for example, that the signal strengthsample data for mobile computing devices 104 b, 104 c, and 104 d at POSterminals 118 b, 118 c, and 118 d, respectively, at the time of thepayment card transaction is:

TABLE 2 Signal Strength Data at POS 118b, 118c, and 118d MallWiFiXYZWireless MallWiFi Store Store Store 001 123 002 001 002 003 Signal 35 2 1 3 1 Strength @ 118b Signal 3 3 2 5 4 5 Strength @ 118c Signal — 35 4 5 2 Strength @ 118dIn Table 2, as in Table 1, a signal strength listed as “--” indicates awireless access point 610 that is not visible or not present in thecollected sample.

In the example embodiment, WPS 110 builds a “location profile” for alocation of each POS terminal 118 in venue 600. In the exampleembodiment shown and described here, only one wireless sample iscollected at each POS device 118 for simplifying the discussion. Inother words, each location profile for each POS device 118 is built fromonly a single wireless sample record (e.g., one of the wireless samplesshown in Tables 1 and 2). In other embodiments, WPS 110 collects andbuilds position profiles of POS locations 118 using many wirelesssamples collected at each POS device 118, and from a plurality of mobilecomputing devices 104, and across many device types, vendors, makes,models, operating systems, and firmware versions. WPS 110 may aggregateone or more samples associated with a particular POS terminal 118 intoone or more location profiles for that POS terminal 118. Accordingly, inthe example embodiment, WPS 110 has a plurality of location profiles fora plurality of locations or positions (e.g., locations of POS devices118) within venue 600.

In the example embodiment, WPS 100 determines a subject location 620 ofanother person, e.g., subject user 103, while they are in venue 600. Inthe example shown in FIG. 5, subject user 103 is in a mall hallway justnorth of kiosks 630 d and just south of coffee shop 630 b. Subject user103 carries a mobile computing device 105, similar to mobile computingdevices 104, 105 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) and to devices 104 a-104 d,which is also able to scan and discover wireless access point such asaccess points 610 a-610 f. In some embodiments, subject user 103 may,for example, have an indoor positioning app running on device 105 thatincludes an indoor map of venue 600, but the indoor positioning app mayrequire a location determination of subject user 103 from WPS 110 inorder to display to subject user 103 where they are on the map.

To determine subject location 620, device 105 performs a signal strengthscan and transmits to WPS 110 “subject signal strength data” thatincludes the wireless network identifiers visible to device 105 andassociated signal strengths at the time of the scan, as well aspotentially other information such as described above with regard towireless sample data. Additionally or alternatively, WPS 110 may accesssubject signal strength data from one or more wireless access points 610and/or hub 640. Presume, for example, that that the subject signalstrength data for device 105 when subject user 103 is at location 620is:

TABLE 3 Subject Signal Strength Data at Subject Location 620 MallWiFiXYZWireless MallWiFi Store Store Store 001 123 002 001 002 003 Signal 15 2 1 3 1 Strength @ 620

WPS 110 receives the subject signal strength data for mobile computingdevice 105 from, for example, mobile computing device 105. WPS 110 isconfigured to perform various statistical analysis on the subject signalstrength data in order to determine the location of the subject user103. For example, WPS 110 may analyze the subject signal strength datato determine the signal strength sample data most similar to the subjectsignal strength data, and may return the location profile associatedwith the similar sample data as the likely location of the subject user103. WPS 110 may provide the location of subject user 103 with anuncertainty or range, such as, for example, within 10 feet or 5 m of theprovided (exact) location. As another example, WPS 110 may use aplurality of signal sample sets to generate a likely signal set forevery location within the indoor venue 600. WPS 110 may use theplurality of signal sample sets to generate signal ranges for eachwireless access point 117, for example, how far the signal from aparticular access point 117 is broadcast, and where the signal rangechanges from, for example, 5 bars to 4 bars, from 4 bars to 3 bars, andso on. Accordingly, by generating signal ranges for each access point117, WPS 110 can use the subject signal strength data and the signalranges to triangulate the location of the subject user 103.

FIG. 6 is an example embodiment of a map 650 included in WPS 110. WPS110 may use map 650 of venue 600 to identify POS locations 118 relativeto map 650, for example, relative to other landmarks on map 650 (asopposed to identifying POS locations 118 in terms of geographiccoordinates or other absolute locations). WPS 110 may use map 650 toidentify locations of the various wireless access points 117 relative tothe map 650. In some embodiments, as described above, WPS 110 maydetermine signal ranges of wireless access points 117 that WPS 110 usesto determine a location of a subject user 103 (shown in FIG. 5).

WPS 110 may identify signal ranges of the wireless access points 117 as,for example, single or multiple concentric circles or ellipses (or anyother shape) around each wireless access point. In the exampleembodiment, map 650 includes signal ranges for “XYZWireless123” accesspoint 610 b, “Store002” access point 610 e, and “MallWiFi002” accesspoint 610 c. (Signal ranges for only three access points 610 are shownon map 650, for clarity. In other embodiments, WPS 110 may identifysignal ranges for any number of access points 610.) Concentric oroverlapping ellipses may indicate associated boundaries of differentsignals strengths (e.g., where a 5-bar signal becomes a 4-bar signal).The outer boundary for a 1-bar signal from “XYZWireless123” access point610 b is indicated on map 650 by 610 b-1 (and other outer boundaries aresimilarly indicated). WPS 110 uses the generated signal ranges toidentify or determine the location of subject user 103 on map 650 (i.e.,in venue 600).

In the example embodiment, WPS 110 has received a subject signalstrength sample set that denotes, among other things, that mobilecomputing device 105 of subject user 103 has a signal strength of 2 barsassociated with “XYWWireless123” access point 610 b, a signal strengthof 1 bar associated with “Store002” access point 610 e, and a signalstrength of 1 bar associated with “MallWiFi002” access point 610 c.Accordingly, WPS 110 may triangulate the location of mobile computingdevice 105 (and, thus, subject user 103) to an area 660, which isdefined by the respective boundaries 610 b-2, 610 e-1, and 610 c-1. WPS110 may use map 650 to provide the location of subject user 103 in amanner useful to subject user 103. For example, WPS 110 may identify thelocation of subject user 103 on the map 650 as a dot or an icon at thecenter of area 660 (without displaying area 660). As area 660 mayencompass about 15 square feet, WPS 110 may identify the location ofmobile computing device 105 in the center of area 660 and identify alocation uncertainty of about 3 feet (which may be displayed to subjectuser 103 as a circle with a scaled 3-foot radius around the location).

FIG. 7 is an example method 700 for providing position determination fora user such as subject user 103 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 5) within a venueusing payment card transaction data and wireless data. In the exampleembodiment, method 700 is performed by one or more computing systemssuch as payment processor 112 (shown in FIG. 1), wireless positioningsystem 110 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), mobile computing device 104 (shownin FIG. 1), mobile computing devices 104 a-104 d, 105 (shown in FIG. 5),or by computing device 810 (shown in FIG. 8). In some embodiments,method 700 includes identifying 702 a plurality of signal sample sets.Each signal sample set may include a sample location within the venue(e.g., venue 111 or venue 600) and one or more wireless signal strengthsof associated wireless access points (e.g., wireless access points 117or wireless access points 610) positioned at the venue. The samplelocation may be determined based at least in part on location dataassociated with a corresponding payment card transaction within thevenue. Method 700 also includes receiving 704 one or more subjectwireless signal strength samples of the wireless access points capturedby the user device (e.g., mobile computing device 104, 105) at anunidentified location within the venue. Method 700 further includesdetermining 706 a subject location of the user device within the venuebased at least in part on the plurality of signal sample sets and theone or more subject wireless signal strength samples. Method 700 alsoincludes providing 708 the subject location of the user device withinthe venue.

FIG. 8 shows an example configuration 800 of a database 820 within acomputing device 810, along with other related computing components,that may be used to provide position determination of a user device 802(which may be similar to mobile computing device 105, shown in FIG. 1)within a venue based at least in part on wireless signal data andpayment card transactions. In some embodiments, computing device 810 issimilar to payment processor 112 (shown in FIG. 1), wireless positioningsystem (WPS) 110 (shown in FIG. 1), and/or server system 301 (shown inFIG. 4). Database 820 is coupled to several separate components withincomputing device 810, which perform specific tasks.

In the example embodiment, database 820 includes wireless signal samplesets 822, location data 824, and venue data 826. In some embodiments,database 820 is similar to database 120 (shown in FIG. 1). Wirelesssignal sample sets 822 include information associated with signalstrength samples and device information. Location data 824 includesinformation associated with locations of payment card transactions andpoint-of-sale devices. Venue data 826 includes data associated with, forexample, venue 600 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 6), such as venue map 650.

Computing device 810 includes the database 820, as well as data storagedevices 830. Computing device 810 also includes a wireless component 840for receiving signal strength data of wireless access points. Computingdevice 810 also includes a transaction component 850 for correlating thelocations of payment card transactions with particular point-of-sale(POS) devices and cardholders, and for matching or associating a deviceID with a cardholder PAN. A venue component 860 is also included fordetermining POS device locations within a particular venue. Acommunications component 870 provides communications functionalityenabling computing device 810 to communicate with other computingcomponents. A processing component 880 assists with execution ofcomputer-executable instructions associated with the system.

As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, theabove-described embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented usingcomputer programming or engineering techniques including computersoftware, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof,wherein the technical effect is providing positioning determinationusing wireless and payment transactions data. Any such resultingprogram, having computer-readable code means, may be embodied orprovided within one or more computer-readable media, thereby making acomputer program product, i.e., an article of manufacture, according tothe discussed embodiments of the disclosure. The computer-readable mediamay be, for example, but is not limited to, a fixed (hard) drive,diskette, optical disk, magnetic tape, semiconductor memory such asread-only memory (ROM), and/or any transmitting/receiving medium such asthe Internet or other communication network or link. The article ofmanufacture containing the computer code may be made and/or used byexecuting the code directly from one medium, by copying the code fromone medium to another medium, or by transmitting the code over anetwork.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications, “apps”, or code) include machine instructions for aprogrammable processor, and can be implemented in a high-levelprocedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or inassembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readablemedium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer programproduct, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks,memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machineinstructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including amachine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as amachine-readable signal. The “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium,” however, do not include transitory signals.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

This written description uses examples to disclose the disclosure,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the disclosure, including making and using any devicesor systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scopeof the disclosure is defined by the claims, and may include otherexamples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples areintended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structuralelements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, orif they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantialdifferences from the literal languages of the claims.

1-21. (canceled)
 22. A computer-implemented method for determining device location of a user device within an indoor venue, the method implemented using a wireless positioning system including a processor and a memory, the method comprising: generating a plurality of signal sample sets, wherein each signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets includes a respective sample location within the indoor venue and one or more wireless signal strengths of associated wireless access points positioned at the indoor venue, wherein each signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets is generated by: receiving notification of a payment card transaction of a cardholder conducted at a point-of-sale (POS) device at the indoor venue, the notification identifying a sample location of the POS device and a time of the payment card transaction; querying a plurality of wireless access points in respective positions near the location of the POS device for an interrogation signal strength of an interrogation signal generated at a cardholder device associated with the cardholder at the time of the payment card transaction; building a signal strength sample set representing the respective interrogation signal strengths at each wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points; and associating the signal strength sample set with the sample location of the POS device; receiving one or more subject wireless signal strength samples of the wireless access points captured by the user device at an unidentified location within the indoor venue; determining, by the processor, a subject location of the user device within the indoor venue based at least in part on the plurality of signal sample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strength samples; and providing the subject location of the user device within the indoor venue.
 23. The method of claim 22 further comprising identifying a device ID of the cardholder device, wherein querying a plurality of wireless access points comprises providing the device ID to the plurality of wireless access points in a query.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein identifying a device ID of the cardholder device comprises matching a personal account number (PAN) of a payment account of the cardholder used to conduct the payment card transaction with the device ID of the cardholder device.
 25. The method of claim 23, wherein identifying a device ID of the cardholder device comprises: generating a geotemporal fingerprint associated with the cardholder based upon a plurality of payment card transaction conducted by the cardholder; identifying the cardholder device based upon the geotemporal fingerprint; and determining the device ID of the identified cardholder device.
 26. The method of claim 22, wherein querying a plurality of wireless access points comprises querying a hub in communication with the plurality of wireless access points and configured to collect signal strength data from the plurality of wireless access points.
 27. The method of claim 26 further comprising generating the plurality of signal samples sets in a batch by querying the hub for a respective interrogation signal strength of a respective interrogation signal generated at a respective cardholder device at a respective time for a plurality of payment card transactions conducted within an interval of time at the POS device.
 28. The method of claim 22 wherein providing the subject location of the user device within the indoor venue comprises displaying the subject location of the user device using a map application on the user device.
 29. A wireless positioning system for determining device location of a user device within an indoor venue, said wireless positioning system comprising a processor communicatively coupled to a memory, said wireless positioning system programmed to: generating a plurality of signal sample sets, wherein each signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets includes a respective sample location within the indoor venue and one or more wireless signal strengths of associated wireless access points positioned at the indoor venue, wherein to generate the signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets, said wireless positioning system is programmed to: receive notification of a payment card transaction of a cardholder conducted at a point-of-sale (POS) device at the indoor venue, the notification identifying a sample location of the POS device and a time of the payment card transaction; query a plurality of wireless access points in respective positions near the location of the POS device for an interrogation signal strength of an interrogation signal generated at a cardholder device associated with the cardholder at the time of the payment card transaction; build a signal strength sample set representing the respective interrogation signal strengths at each wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points; and associate the signal strength sample set with the sample location of the POS device; receive one or more subject wireless signal strength samples of the wireless access points captured by the user device at an unidentified location within the indoor venue; determine a subject location of the user device within the indoor venue based at least in part on the plurality of signal sample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strength samples; and provide the subject location of the user device within the indoor venue.
 30. The wireless positioning system of claim 29, said wireless positioning system further programmed to: identify a device ID of the cardholder device; and query the plurality of wireless access points by providing the device ID to the plurality of wireless access points in a query.
 31. The wireless positioning system of claim 30, said wireless positioning system further programmed to match a personal account number (PAN) of a payment account of the cardholder used to conduct the payment card transaction with the device ID of the cardholder device.
 32. The wireless positioning system of claim 30, said wireless positioning system further programmed to: generate a geotemporal fingerprint associated with the cardholder based upon a plurality of payment card transaction conducted by the cardholder; identify the cardholder device based upon the geotemporal fingerprint; and determine the device ID of the identified cardholder device.
 33. The wireless positioning system of claim 29, said wireless positioning system further programmed to query the plurality of wireless access points by querying a hub in communication with the plurality of wireless access points and configured to collect signal strength data from the plurality of wireless access points.
 34. The wireless positioning system of claim 33, said wireless positioning system further programmed to generate the plurality of signal samples sets in a batch by querying the hub for a respective interrogation signal strength of a respective interrogation signal generated at a respective cardholder device at a respective time for a plurality of payment card transactions conducted within an interval of time at the POS device.
 35. The wireless positioning system of claim 33, said wireless positioning system further programmed to display the subject location of the user device using a map application on the user device.
 36. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to: generating a plurality of signal sample sets, wherein each signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets includes a respective sample location within an indoor venue and one or more wireless signal strengths of associated wireless access points positioned at the indoor venue, wherein to generate the signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to: receive notification of a payment card transaction of a cardholder conducted at a point-of-sale (POS) device at the indoor venue, the notification identifying a sample location of the POS device and a time of the payment card transaction; query a plurality of wireless access points in respective positions near the location of the POS device for an interrogation signal strength of an interrogation signal generated at a cardholder device associated with the cardholder at the time of the payment card transaction; build a signal strength sample set representing the respective interrogation signal strengths at each wireless access point of the plurality of wireless access points; and associate the signal strength sample set with the sample location of the POS device; receive one or more subject wireless signal strength samples of the wireless access points captured by a user device at an unidentified location within the indoor venue; determine a subject location of the user device within the indoor venue based at least in part on the plurality of signal sample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strength samples; and provide the subject location of the user device within the indoor venue.
 37. The computer-readable storage media of claim 36, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to: identify a device ID of the cardholder device; and query the plurality of wireless access points by providing the device ID to the plurality of wireless access points in a query.
 38. The computer-readable storage media of claim 37, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to match a personal account number (PAN) of a payment account of the cardholder used to conduct the payment card transaction with the device ID of the cardholder device.
 39. The computer-readable storage media of claim 37, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to: generate a geotemporal fingerprint associated with the cardholder based upon a plurality of payment card transaction conducted by the cardholder; identify the cardholder device based upon the geotemporal fingerprint; and determine the device ID of the identified cardholder device.
 40. The computer-readable storage media of claim 36, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to query the plurality of wireless access points by querying a hub in communication with the plurality of wireless access points and configured to collect signal strength data from the plurality of wireless access points.
 41. The computer-readable storage media of claim 36, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to display the subject location of the user device using a map application on the user device.
 42. A wireless positioning system for determining device location of a user device within an indoor venue, said wireless positioning system comprising a processor communicatively coupled to a memory, said wireless positioning system programmed to: generating a plurality of signal sample sets, wherein each signal sample set of the plurality of signal sample sets includes a respective sample location within the indoor venue associated with a payment card transaction conducted within the indoor venue, wherein each signal sample set further includes one or more interrogation signal strengths of interrogation signals generated at a time of the respective payment transaction and received at a plurality of wireless access points positioned at the indoor venue, the interrogation signal strengths associated with the respective sample location within the indoor venue; receive one or more subject wireless signal strength samples of the wireless access points captured by the user device at an unidentified location within the indoor venue; determine a subject location of the user device within the indoor venue based at least in part on the plurality of signal sample sets and the one or more subject wireless signal strength samples; and provide the subject location of the user device within the indoor venue. 